CITY MAY BOOST PROGRAMS FOR
OVERLOOKED GROUPS

Commission would address issues affecting youths, seniors

City officials are looking at creating a Human Services Commission to help administer a slate of new programs in the works for a host of residents — those who other communities sometimes underserve and overlook.

The new commission, which could be considered by the council within 90 days, would cover services for at-risk and foster youths; people with special needs and their families; people receiving mental health treatment; senior citizens; and military families.

The city now works with those groups via a Human Services Division within the Community Services Department, a large department that also includes parks, youth sports programs, operation of the city’s museums and public facilities such as the community center and the community theater, and citywide events such as the Fourth of July parade and all of the winter activities in Old Town.

The actions of the department are covered via the Community Services Commission, a body of five appointees who meet every second Monday at the Civic Center.

Mayor Mike Naggar has proposed creating a Human Services Commission or expanding the scope of the Community Services Commission, but the details on the pros and cons have not yet been fully discussed.

To address that, the council last week created a new Human Services subcommittee to which it appointed Naggar and Councilwoman Maryann Edwards.

Naggar said the benefit of a dedicated commission would be more focus on the work of the division, which has evolved in recent years.

“They would focus exclusively on human services and human needs,” he said. “We’re doing a lot of things that require more work and a laserlike approach in that regard.”

To help illustrate the breadth of the division’s work, the city’s inclusion specialist, Yvette Martinez, and Candice Flohr, director of the Mary Phillips Senior Center, provided the council with an update on upcoming programs and activities.

Martinez’s position was created in 2011 to help the city make sure families of children with special needs were included in, and accommodated by, city programs and activities such as the annual Breakfast With Santa and the Easter Egg Hunt.

Martinez said that outreach has expanded, and this year the division, which frequently partners with the school district and local nonprofits, is offering a series of classes to help parents and caregivers of children with special needs, as well as an information session on Feb. 6 for military families of children with special needs.

The series of classes started in January and runs through April.

“There is an ongoing need for more information, resources and support,” she said.

In addition, the division is working on a youth job development workshop in collaboration with the school district and educational partners, and a college excursion tour of San Diego State University and Cal State San Marcos for local high school students.

Dovetailing with the work of the city to form a regional task force to address hot-button youth issues, the division this summer will be hosting workshops on drug and alcohol prevention and gaming addiction.

“Teachers from our local school district have reported that students in special education are using video games to pass the time, due to a lack of opportunities for socialization,” she said.